|
July / August NEWSLETTER 2008
Real progress is such a wonderful thing to be able to report!
WHAT A JOY! Having just returned from Sudan on July 28th, I am astounded at what God is doing with the donations
you have given. It was an encouraging trip, beginning to end. All I have is good news . . .
Fiona, our accountant, is doing a wonderful job of keeping accurate accounts
for all the farms. Some farms are now operating in the black. We are getting
closer all the time to when we will no longer have to subsidize any operational
expenses. That will leave us free to begin the next new 2,000 acre
farms with your donations. As you know, the goal is to bring each farm to
self-sufficiency in order for us (you and me) to concentrate on new farms
and new and larger machinery. Only another 98,000 acres to go! Can you
help us do it? God is able!
In Sudan we went to the new, relatively
small farm at Mogiri about 10 km
away from SFC headquarters. Amos, the manager, though young, is doing
a terrific job. There’s not a lazy bone in his body! We happened to arrive as
they were loading 4.2 metric tones of G-nuts (peanuts to us). He had grown
this as an interim crop while trying to develop the fruit farm there and already
sold it for a total of $1200.00 (USA). He also had crops of corn almost
ready to harvest. That’s another $2,750.00 income for Mogiri farm.
He has yet to harvest onions and cassava. When you consider that involves
a little more than 15 acres, he is doing very well. The total cost (excluding
land clearing) was about $7,200.00 (full year) for all salaries, staff, fuel and
repairs. Costs will increase very little when he has 30 acres or 100 acres.
This young man is on his way to making a great farm manager!
We bounced on roads that we are now re-building to what will be our Model Farm, the 2000 acre farm at
Bori! Emmanuel, our twenty-three year old farm manager, pointed across the vast fields of corn almost ready to
harvest, past the bulldozer clearing more land, past the bush that was being cleared, past the imagination of
much older men, and said: “When we reach those high trees over there, we will have 1,000 acres to harvest by
this time next year”. That will grow a minimum of 1,000 metric tonnes of
corn, worth $300,000.00. We were told there is a small 2 km long lake in
the middle of the many thousands of acres we have yet to clear. By this
time next year, Bori farm will pay ALL of its own costs and make a
profit. The profit will be poured back into developing the next 1,000
acres immediately! Praise the Lord! I wish you had been there to see it
all.
I was thrilled seeing the bulldozers clearing the land. I thought of our Canadian
past and our pioneer farmers who hand cleared many thousands
of acres. We are clearing land at a very accelerated pace. What a great investment
those bulldozers are! Our African operators are every bit as
good as any Canadian operator. One bulldozer is making roads in order to deliver our produce to Juba, a very,
very hungry city of a million people. Soon both bulldozers will be constantly clearing new land. I can’t express
the high level of confidence I have in the future.
EW farms must be cleared, as a separate operation, with subsidies from Canada. That’s our part. When a
new farm begins to produce more than its own operational costs it will then also contribute to the establishing
new farms. This will snowball into many thousands of food-producing acres. The local ‘small farmers’ near the
SFC farms are becoming more and more productive as well. It is now estimated we are making an impact on
about 400,000 people. In fact, it is hitting the newspapers in Sudan. Here’s a quote from the newspaper about
one small farmer:
“Joseph Nyombe says he has become independent ‘I no longer wait for relief food like it was the case. I am able
Cal with Amos and a crop of peanuts
Cal with Emanuel, Monday and Hamsa
with the bulldozer at the Bori Farm
The bulldozer clearing trees in Bori
to send my children to school with support from the Savannah Farmers
Cooperative. I have also improved on my production and I hope to do
much better’ says Nyombe.”
We have over 300 small farmers who have applied for the use of our machinery!
The cost of food in Sudan in some cases is from 120% to 288% higher
than in Uganda because of the lack of food. I don’t understand how people
stay alive in Juba with what they can get. We are on the edge of
changing that drastically for the good. By producing food inside Sudan’s
south, we can eventually force the prices down!
I had the opportunity on Saturday, July 26th to speak to the top political leadership of the Government of Southern
Sudan. They responded to my invitation and stood to their feet immediately and pledged themselves to
fight corruption adding, “So help me God”. I have been asked to supply 300 DVD copies of that challenge. I
sensed God’s presence as I gave a no-punches-pulled speech. Two hundred copies of the speech were also distributed
to Members. Thank you for praying! The results appear to have started in less than three days.
Zamba Duku, our Managing Director for the Savannah Farmers Cooperative
wrote the following to me on August 4th.
“For your information, Cal, the Southern Sudan Legislative
Assembly seems to have suddenly found a new form of energy.
Since you left it has been far, far more active than
previously. For example it has summoned the Minister of
Interior (the person in charge of the Police) for some tough
questioning about the Police's interference in the work of
the states. The state governments were losing a lot of
money to the police through their issuance of motor vehicle
licenses (what constitutionally should be done by the
states). I understand that the Parliament has also issued
summons to two governors (including our own) to answer questions about problems in their
states. This is a new face of the Parliament and although I cannot say definitely that it is due
to your lecture to the Assembly Leadership, I find the fact that this robustness follows your
lecture very interesting. God is definitely at work. Zamba”
They are taking the challenge to fight corruption, fraud and theft very seriously. While God works on the hearts
of the leaders of southern Sudan, we have to continue working on the soil on the farms. The need for a large 40
foot truck has now become critical. Bringing in fuel for the tractors and bulldozers is crucial. Delivering the
food to the hungry before it spoils is an absolute MUST. We don’t even have adequate storage for so much
produce.
Please give serious prayer to the immediate needs we have for $220,000.00 to get essential vehicles and dry
storage built for food in transit from the farms to the hungry. We want to reduce the cost of food in Sudan.
Another quote from the NEW VISION newspaper: “At present we have a World Bank-supported loan program for farmers
which serves as a micro-credit support, with the SFC using a World Bank loan to help plough farmers’ lands and to provide them with
seeds and other necessary help, all of which are to be repaid after crop harvest and sales.” says Mr. Zamba. “For this year alone, The
World Bank has set aside one hundred thousand U.S. dollars for the SFC program. The Cal Bombay Ministries
Inc (a Canadian-based Christian Organization)
is funding SFC.”
Please do the best you can to help us take
full advantage of how God has blessed the
crops by delivering it into the hands and
stomachs of those who need it. Your donation
is very critical right now. Please
use the enclosed envelope to send in your
donation. And pray! Please pray for me
and for our impact on Sudan.
With deep gratitude to you and to God,
Cal Bombay
|
